Island



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CALVIN CARPENTER, JR., F PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

MACHINE FOR MAKING HORSESHO-NAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,491, dated June 9, 1857.

by declare that the following is a full, clear,`

and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specificatlon, 1n

which- Figure l, is a longitudinal vertical section, taken through thecutters and forming dies, of a machine with my improvements. Fig. 2, isa plan of the same. Fig. 3, is a transverse vertical section of thesame, in

the line a, shown in Figs. 1 and Q. Fig. t

f is a plan of the heading dies. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the lowercutter and the nail plate, showing the form in which the blanks are cut.Fig. 6 is a side view of the cam and yoke for operating the lowerdie-plate.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

The principal object of my invention is to make cut horseshoe nails thatshall be equal in character to forged ones. TheY in-` vention is,however, applicable to the manufacture of other headed cut nails.

It consists in certain improvements in the forming dies.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed todescribe its construction and operation.

A, A, is the framing of the machine.

B is the driving-shaft, carrying fast-andloose pulleys C, C', to receivea belt from the shaft of a steam-engine or other prime mover from whichthe 'machine derives motion, and carrying also a spur gear D, gearingwith a larger gear E, on the cam shaft F, of the machine from which themovements are imparted to the several working parts.

' as, a', are the cutters which cut the blanks from a flat plate. Thelower cutter, a, is fixed near the front of the machine and the upperone a', is attached by bolts c, c, to a plate S, that is bolted to thefront end of a powerful lever G, that works on a fulcrum or arbor G',and is operated by a cam H, on the rock shaft. These cutters are appliedand operated in substantially the same manner, and cut on the samewell-known principle, as the cutters of other cut-nail machines; butsuch cutters in other machines have straight edges, while these havecurved edges of such forni as to cut the blanks parallel or nearly so,for the greater portion of their length, but gradually tapering incurved forni at the ends; the taper being in opposite directions, atopposite ends; so that by turning the plate over, after every cut, andbefore another cut takes place, each blank is cut with a point at oneend and a swelling at the other end, to form the head of the nail. Thisis illustrated in Fig. 5, where the outline of the lower cutter is shownin black color and the outline of the end of the nail plate is shown inred color. In this figure, e, represents the edge of the cutter which isof the same form as the edge of the lower cutter. The nail-plate, asrepresented in this figure, is supposed to have been turned over sincethe last nail was cut off, and fed forward far enough to cut of anothernail; the part f, overhanging the edge e, representing the part that isto be cut off by the next Opera- GIS` tion of the cutters, to form anail blank Y the point of the `next blank, the line ofwhose separationfrom the plate is indicated by a dotted red line; and the part adjoiningthe narrow or pointed part of the blank f, will be in a position to formthe broad part of the next blank. By using a curved cutter of this form,and turning the plate over after every cut, blanks for horseshoe nails,or other nails requiring a head, may be cut without the waste that isconsequent upon the cutting them from the plate by a punchwithoutturning the plate over after every out.

b, b', are the dies which give the form to two sides of the nail and thewhole of the head thereof, and hold it during the heading operation; theupper die b is made all in one'piece with the upper cutter a, or, moreproperly speaking, the front edge of this die constitutes the uppercutter. The lower die b, forms part of a plate of metal I, that isfitted to slide back and forth under the lower cutter a, some distancebelow the cutting edge thereof, deriving the said sliding mot-ion from acam J, on the shaft F, acting within a yoke K, on a rod K', that isconnected with an arm L, on aV rockshaft L, which works in bearings infront of the frame A, and carries another arm L2, that works in a slotin the said plate I. The internal sect-ions of theseA dies, transverselyto the nail, are of the form of two rabbets, so that when they cometogether they form a boX to receive and inclose the nail blank; buttheir section taken longitudinally to the nail is of such form that, bycompressing the blank, they give it the required taper form toward thepoint. The internal form of the dies possesses no novelty. The cam J,which gives the lower die-plate I its sliding motion, is of such form(as shown in Fig. 6, which gives a separate view of the said cam and itsyoke) as to give the said plate two movements, back and forth, or, inother words, that it makes a portion of its movement in eitherdirection, then stops, and moves on again, and as to cause the saidplate to rest awhile after completing its forward or backward movement.The first part of its backward or inward movement brings it far enoughforward, viz., to the position shown in Fig. 1, for the blank to dropinto the die, as it falls from the cutters after being cut off, and therest between the first and second parts of its movement takes place atthe time the cut takes place, in order that it may receive the blank inthe proper place. -After the lower die receives the blank, the secondpart of the backward or inward movement of its plate I takes place, andbrings the blank to a proper position under the interior of the upperdie, which stands a short distance behind the edge of the upper cutter;and while this second part of the movement takes place, the lever G,carrying the upper die, continues to descend till just as the movementof the lower die terminates, or immediately after it has terminated, theupper die comes down upon the blank, and by its pressure gives thedesired form to the upper and lower sides of the blank, andv grasps ittightly, so that it may be submitted to the operation of the header. Theabove described sliding movement of the lower die-plate I, below thelower cutter, also serves to effect the discharge of the finished nailsfrom the machine, after they have been liberated by the rising of theupper die with the ascent o f the lever G; for as the said plate Icommences to move forward or outward, which it does as the upper dieascends, the nail is pushed o it by coming in contact with the lowercutter, a, and caused to fall on the plate Q, in which the plate Islides; and when the plate I returns, it pushes the blank oft' theplate, Q,

and lets it fall on the 'floor or into a receptacle placed under themachine.

d, is the header,7 attached to a piston form with the intended size andform of the head of the nail.

L, is a stationary guide, to which the' header fits. The header receivesmotion at the proper time from a cam M, on the shaft F, acting on thebent' arm N, attached to the rear end of a rockshaft O, that is arrangedin bearings at right angles to the cam-shaft; the said shaft having, atits front end, an arm P, that is connected with Vthe header by a screw,z', screwed into the said arm, and a fork, j, on the header -piston M;the said screw serving to adjust the header farther into or out from thedies, according to the length of the nail or thickness of the head. Theheader is attached to its piston M, in such a manner as to be capable ofbeing changed, so that round or square headers may Abe used, to makeround or squareheaded nails. A change in the form of the header willrequire a corresponding change in the form of the dies.

7c, is a gage for regulating the width of the nails, consisting of avery small flat lever, of a thickness equal to that of the nailplate andof angular form, (shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, but best in Fig. 2,)pivoted by a pin Z, to the bot-toin of the front end of the lever G, andworking horizontallyon the said pivot Z, close under the upper die b.

One arm of this lever points toward the cutters, Yand the other armstands out sidewise from under the lever Gr, and is received in a slotm, in a smallv stationary metal stand T, secured to t-he framing of themachine. The upper part of the slot m,-in which the gage stands when thelever G is raised to its highest position and the cutters are open,- isupright; and the stand is so adjusted that, when the said lever is inthe above-named position,-at which` time the gage is at the same levelas the nail-plate entering the machine,-the gage is held by the saidslot with its front extremity in a position to arrest the nail-plate,(as it is fed in by the person attending the machine,) with its end sofar over the edge of the lower cutter that the nail will be cut to therequired width. By moving the stand T, farther forward or backward, t-hepoint of the .gage is moved farther backward or forward, and hence thenail-plate is allowed to be fed farther or not so far over the edge ofthe cutter a, by which means, the width of the nail is increased ordiminished.` Lower down than where the gage stands in the slot m, at thetime the lever Gr is in its highest position,

the said slot has a sudden curve or inclination, as shown in Fig. 1;and, as the lever G descends to cut oil the blank, and bring the dieZJ', into operation, the gage, in passing down the said curve orinclination, has its front extremity moved back far enough to preventits interfering with the closing of the dies, as it would do, were itallowed to remain stationary in its operative position. As the lever Grrises again, after the nail is completed, the front extremity or pointof the gage is again thrown forward by its other extremity moving up thecurve or inclination of the slot, m.

p, is a gage, for keeping the nail-plate in a proper lateral position,so that the sides of the heads and points cut at one end of the cutterswill correspond with the sides cut at the other end; and the nail blankswill thereby be cut with both sides alike. This gage consists simply ofa metal finger, secured to the top of the header guide t, or to anyconvenient stationary part of the machine, by a screw g, and adjustableon the said screw g, t-o move its point toward or from the center of themachine. The nail plate, in being fed into the machine, has one edgeheld against the point of this gage. By moving the point of the gagetoward or from the center of the machine, the plate will be caused to bethrown more or less toward one or other end of the cutters, as may benecessary. This gage will require to have its position changed, when awider or narrower plate is used to make longer or shorter nails.

In this machine, the nails may be made from hot or cold iron.

I do not claim the cutting of the nailplate vin such a manner as to makethe heads and points of the blanks from opposite edges of the platealternately, by turning over the plate, as that is done in cutting bradsand other cut nails, for which purposes straight cut-ters are used. But

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is:

1. The attachment of the lower die b, toor the construction thereof as apart 0fa plate I, which has such a sliding movement, horizontally orotherwise, below the lower cutter, at right angles to the movements ofthe cutters and closing movement of the dies, as is herein described,that the die receives the blank from the cutters while it is in astationary condition, and then conveys it under the top die, and, inreturning, has the finished nail pushed off it by the lower cutter,substantially as herein specilied.

2. The gage la, applied to the lever G, or its equivalent, which carriesthe upper die, and operating as described, in combination with astationary slotted standard T, by which it is moved out of the way asthe dies close, and which also serves to adjust it to give a greater orless width to the nail blanks. i. CALVIN CARPENTER, JR. Witnesses:

J. F. BUGKLEY, L. F. COHEN.

